“I am truly sorry for what happened. There is no excuse worth reporting, and there is no reason why our airport should be in complete darkness,” Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkumen said in a statement near midnight.
This latest outage affecting much of the country comes just weeks before the government of Kenya hosts the first Africa Climate Summit, where energy will be a key item on the agenda. Kenya gets almost all of its energy from renewable sources, but infrastructure and alleged mismanagement remain an issue in the country of more than 50 million people.
Kenya Power, which is majority owned by the government, announced in a brief statement that there was a “disruption in the system leading to disruption of power supplies” in parts of the country just before 10pm on Friday. Shortly after midnight, power was reported to be back in Mount Kenya, long a political stronghold, and initial reports indicated a malfunction at the power plant, she added.
At around 3 a.m., Kenya Power said electricity was restored to the international airport in the capital, Nairobi, and other vital areas in the metropolitan area.
However, three of Nairobi’s largest hospitals – whose government headquarters is where President William Ruto’s office is located – told The Associated Press they were still using generators, hours after Kenya Power confirmed.
The power outage extended beyond 12 hours. We were unable to make contact with Kenya Power’s communications department.
Tourism is an important part of Kenya’s economy, and soon stranded travelers were posting pictures on social media of the darkened airport.
The Kenya Airports Authority said a generator serving the main station failed to operate after a nationwide power outage.
At the same time, Kenyans already struggling with the high cost of living have woken up to find food is spoiled and some backup power options are running out.
The last nationwide power outage was in May.
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